Labor says Jenkins safe in Scullin

Senior figures in the Victorian Labor Party have rallied around former speaker
Harry Jenkins
, insisting he is under no pressure to depart his safe seat in Melbourne’s outer north-east.

Mr Jenkins holds the seat of Scullin on a margin of about 20 per cent and some have suggested he quit the Speaker’s role because of moves to replace him.

Under a deal between Labor’s Left faction and the bulk of the party’s right, the seat is allocated to the Socialist Left. Senior figures in the Left faction rubbished suggestions Mr Jenkins was under pressure to step down. He has held the seat since 1986.

Another state Labor source said the party’s precarious hold on government meant nobody was pushing MPs to retire, because that could bring about a by-election or prompt an MP to cross the floor.

“You would certainly think there will be a range of seats [under consideration], but the numbers in the Parliament mean people will only go if they want to go," the party source said. “Just look at the illustrative case of
Peter Slipper
."

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Candidate selections for federal seats around the country are expected in 2012. Labor’s national executive knocked back a push from Victoria to select candidates this year. Lily D’Ambrosio, the opposition energy spokeswoman who holds the Victorian state seat of Mill Park that falls within Scullin, said there was no pressure on Mr Jenkins.

Ms D’Ambrosio said she spoke to Mr Jenkins on Thursday night and said he was relishing the opportunity to do more work for his electorate.

“In fact, I think Harry Jenkins enjoys the strongest support he has ever enjoyed here locally and that’s well deserved," she said.

There has been speculation that Senator David Feeney could move to the seat, as he is deemed unlikely to survive the next election in the spot he holds on Labor’s Senate ticket.

But Mr Feeney told the Weekend Financial Review he was not interested in the seat of Scullin and nobody had made representations on his behalf about it. Mr Jenkins declined to comment.